Pigskin Pundit: NFL Picks Week Seventeen

Last week held few surprises, as teams continue to grind out their post-season fates. Dallas found some fight in the Saints, dropping a crucial game and possibly their playoff hopes at home. Minnesota put the horns to Houston, keeping themselves alive in the playoff hunt. The 49ers ran into the buzzsaw of their rivals up the coast, and the Giants have found mediocrity yet again.

All of which makes Week 17 pivotal and decisive, with so much yet to be determined. Watching the results this weekend will be like seeing the tumblers fall into place on a safe until the door swings open and the playoff slots are revealed. Great drama!

Here are the picks.

JETS @ BILLS – In the battle of AFC East Underachievers, the Bills should win this one at home but somehow I don’t think they will. Chan gets fired, then Rex gets fired. Jets.DOLPHINS @ PATRIOTS – New England puts their game faces back on against Miami this week after looking bad to that other Florida team last week. Patriots.PANTHERS @ SAINTS – The Saints are playing for pride, and that should be enough for them to hold off their surging division rivals. Should be …. Saints.BUCCANEERS @ FALCONS – Atlanta won’t dip the standard at this point. Falcons.PACKERS @ VIKINGS – Packers want the bye. Vikings want a wild card. Green Bay.RAVENS @ BENGALS – This is a toss-up, because there’s nothing at stake but pride. Ravens should win, but the Bengals are at home. Cincy.BROWNS @ STEELERS – Wounded pride game. Steelers.TEXANS @ COLTS – Houston stands to lose the bye and have to play Week 1 of the playoffs with a two-game losing streak if they drop this game to Indy. I don’t see them doing that. Texans. JAGUARS @ TITANS – Jacksonville has too much pride to care about first pick in next year’s draft. Even so, the Titans are a better team, and home. Tennessee.EAGLES @ GIANTS – NY has put themselves in a position where their destiny becomes a mathematician’s conundrum. They shouldn’t be here and Tom Coughlin needs to find the reason why his teams are consistently inconsistent. Giants win and it doesn’t matter anyway.COWBOYS @ REDSKINS – This is the game to watch! A Cowboys’ win clinches the division title. A loss puts them out of the playoffs. This is where we find out what Griffin the 3rd is really made of. Skins in a thriller.BEARS @ LIONS – Bears clinch the last NFC wild card in this one.RAIDERS @ CHARGERS – I hope this win over Oakland doesn’t cause San Diego to retain Norv Turner as their head coach. His performance screams for dismissal.CHIEFS @ BRONCOS – Chiefs clinch next year’s #1 draft pick in this epic loss to Denver. Too bad it won’t solve their many problems next year.CARDINALS @ 49ERS – Niners play angry but don’t get a bye. San Fran.RAMS @ SEAHAWKS – Seattle’s stock continues to rise. Watch out for this team in the playoffs. Seahawks.